Perhaps you read the Washington Post article, "This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later." published on November 11, 2021. If you haven't, we encourage you to. You'll learn that the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum draws about 800 visitors a year. Compared to the 1.5 million tourists that visit Plymouth's museums and gift shops and learn a white-washed version of history. A version of history that mythologizes the violent events that followed European arrival into a story of friendship and mutual sharing. But the reality is that the Wampanoag People’s generosity was met with genocide.
gather here acknowledges the sacred land where we make things, practice fiber craft, teach, live, and build community, which has been a site of human activity for 13,000 years. This land is the traditional unceded territory of the Massachusett and their neighbors the Wampanoag, and Nipmuc Peoples, who have stewarded this land for hundreds of generations. This December we will be donating 5% of our Wednesday sales to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. We encourage you to donate directly to support the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the many programs, services and efforts that they have undertaken to preserve their way of life.
UPDATE: We donated $1,525 to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe with big thanks to everyone who placed an order online on Wednesdays! This was the highest monthly donation of 2021.
*Since launching the We Care Wednesday initiative in January 2017 we have donated over $44,500 to a variety of nonprofits doing essential work in our community as well as other places. From the Mayor's Disaster Fund to Girls Rock Boston to Movement Voter Project and Found In Translation. We select organizations that we feel represent not only our commitment to a better, more equitable world but also our desire to "do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."